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in memoriam
December 30, 2020

30 Incredible Fashion Moments From Pierre Cardin

By Andrew Nguyen

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Photo: Bill Ray/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images

Pierre Cardin was a creative visionary. His decisions changed fashion forever, whether he was making his haute couture collections accessible by introducing ready-to-wear, breaking design tradition with space-age unisex looks, or creating a global business blueprint that brands follow to this day. “What I am now never existed before,” he told Vogue in 1982. On Tuesday, the fashion industry mourned the news of the French designer’s death at the age of 98.

Cardin had a long and decorated career spanning more than eight decades. Born in 1922 outside of Venice, he relocated to France with his family to find refuge from the rise of Italian fascism. Cardin cut his teeth as a tailor and worked under Christian Dior during the New Look era. He founded his own eponymous label in 1950, and the rest is history.

In 1954, his “bubble dresses,” known for their bubble-like skirt, became a worldwide commercial success, and five years later, he presented his first ready-to-wear collection at the Printemps department store in Paris — a bold move that got him temporarily expelled from Chambre Syndicale, the body governing French haute couture. In the ’60s, he shaped the mod aesthetic with space-age fashion — futuristic collections influenced by geometric shapes and crafted in fabrics like plastics and brightly colored vinyl. Cardin set the stage for modern branding in the following decades by signing his name on everything from accessories and fragrances to home goods. Throughout his tenure, countless celebrities have worn his designs, including Jackie Kennedy, Jeanne Moreau, the Beatles, and Naomi Campbell.

In 2019, the Brooklyn Museum recognized Cardin’s fashion innovation with a retrospective called Pierre Cardin: Future Fashion, and in 2020, a documentary called House of Cardin was released. Take a look at some of his best moments below.

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A model wearing Pierre Cardin in 1962. Photo: Paul Schutzer/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
The Beatles wearing Pierre Cardin in 1963. Photo: V&A Images/Getty Images
Model Sin-May Zao wearing Pierre Cardin dresses in 1968. Photo: Bill Ray/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
Jackie Kennedy wearing the Pierre Cardin's Day Suit on a trip to Canada in 1961. Photo: Leonard McCombe/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
Models wearing Pierre Cardin in 1968. Photo: Bill Ray/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
Denise Cox wearing Pierre Cardin at Dickens and Jones in London in 1970. Photo: John Minihan/Getty Images
A model wearing Pierre Cardin in 1963 in Paris. Photo: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images
A model in the Pierre Cardin Haute Couture spring/summer 1968 collection in Paris. Photo: STAFF/AFP via Getty Images
Catsuits by Pierre Cardin in 1968. Photo: M. McKeown/Getty Images
Actress Mia Farrow wearing custom Pierre Cardin at Frank Sinatra's townhouse in 1967. Photo: Bill Eppridge/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Image... Actress Mia Farrow wearing custom Pierre Cardin at Frank Sinatra's townhouse in 1967. Photo: Bill Eppridge/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
Space-age outfits by Pierre Cardin in 1968 in Paris. Photo: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Models wearing Pierre Cardin in 1969. Photo: Express Newspapers/Getty Images
Nurse uniforms by Pierre Cardin in 1970. Photo: Keystone/Getty Images
A model in the Pierre Cardin Haute Couture spring/summer 1970 collection in Paris. Photo: STAFF/AFP via Getty Images
A photographer for Elle Magazine shooting models at the Pierre Cardin show in 1967 in Paris. Photo: Monique JACOT/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
Pierre Cardin working at his London shop in 1970. Photo: STILLS/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
Models wearing the Pierre Cardin Haute Couture spring/summer 1970 collection in Paris. Photo: STAFF/AFP via Getty Images
Boots by Pierre Cardin in 1972. Photo: Keystone/Getty Images
French actress Jeanne Moreau in a costume designed by Pierre Cardin in Jean-Louis Richard's Mata Hari, Agent H21 in 1964. Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty ... French actress Jeanne Moreau in a costume designed by Pierre Cardin in Jean-Louis Richard's Mata Hari, Agent H21 in 1964. Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
A model at the Pierre Cardin show in 1972. Photo: Keystone/Getty Images
Models in Pierre Cardin in 1973. Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Pierre Cardin with models in 1979. Photo: Keystone/Getty Images
A model wearing Pierre Cardin in 1969. Photo: Evening Standard/Getty Images
Children wearing Pierre Cardin in 1967. Photo: Pierre Boulat/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
Models wearing the Pierre Cardin fall/winter 1980 collection in Paris. Photo: STAFF/AFP via Getty Images
Pierre Cardin presents his new perfume "Enigme" in Giza in 1992. Photo: Frederic Neema/Sygma via Getty Images
A model at the Pierre Cardin spring/summer 1993 show in Paris. Photo: PIERRE GUILLAUD/AFP via Getty Images
The runway at the Pierre Cardin spring/summer 2008 show at Whistling Sand Mountin in China's Gansu province. Photo: PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images
A model at the spring/summer 2009 Pierre Cardin show at Palais Bulles in Théoule-sur-Mer, France. Photo: VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images
Naomi Campbell attending the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange at Buckingham Palace in vintage Pierre Cardin in 2018. Photo: PETER NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty ... Naomi Campbell attending the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange at Buckingham Palace in vintage Pierre Cardin in 2018. Photo: PETER NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images
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